Wozniacki, Henin on an early collision course

MELBOURNE, Australia - Top-seed Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the third round of the Australian Open with an emphatic 6-1, 6-0 win over American Vania King today as she continued to gather momentum in her first major atop the rankings.

Wozniacki, a 20-year-old Dane, was never troubled in the 58-minute match, breaking 88th-ranked King’s serve to finish it off and reach the third round for a 13th consecutive Grand Slam tournament. She has yet to win a major but has held the No. 1 ranking since October and can retain it by reaching the semifinals here.

To get to the semis, Wozniacki might have to beat seven-time Grand Slam winner Justin Henin, who continued her comeback from injury with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Elena Baltacha of Britain on center court. Henin blasted seven aces past Baltacha, breaking her four times.

Henin, the 2004 Australian champ and runner-up in ’06 and last year, and Wozniacki could meet in the quarterfinals. Henin will have to get through a tough match against two-time major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova just to get past the third round. The 23rd-seeded Kuznetsova beat Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus, 6-1, 6-4.

On the men’s side, Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych needed four match points, struggling to finish it off with his serve in the last game, to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

No. 8 Andy Roddick had no such trouble, firing his 17th ace to finish off a 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-3 second-round win over Igor Kunitsyn of Russia.

The former No. 1-ranked Roddick is into the third round at Melbourne Park for the ninth straight time.